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To: alt.satanism
From: "Mr. Scratch" 
Subject: RE: Announcing Radio Free Setian!
Date: Sat, 14 Jul 2001 10:48:46 -0700

On Fri, 13 Jul 2001, Kevin Filan wrote:

> I wonder what would happen if all the I*, II* and III* documents of
> the Temple of Set were suddenly to become available online?  This
> material might well prove useful to those considering affiliation with
> the Temple, not to mention religious scholars.  (It would also be
> useful for "Freezone Setians" who wanted to use Setian philosophy
> without dealing with Setian org. bullshit).

Interestingly, the Temple of Set is currently having a snit over just this
very possibility.  They are currently attempting to ratchet down control
over their internal documents, graduating them from "Super-Seekrit" to
"Super-Duper Seekrit."  The following is apparently now found on the
Scroll of Set (The ToS' bimonthly 'zine):

"This document is the property of the Temple of Set Inc. It is on loan to
active members only. It is not intended for resale and the Temple will
reimburse postage costs for its return."

So, even if it's in your possession, it isn't yours to keep.

Frankly, I believe this is just another excuse to tighten the grip of the
security arm of the Temple on its membership, to no end other than to
exercize power.  It is rather similar (though on a much smaller scale,
obviously) to what occurred in the Soviet Union with the NKVD in the
1920's, when the security branch of the state ran amok, growing like a
cancer for no purpose but growth itself.  Everything that remotely related
to the State or its security, even the possession of an accurate roadmap,
became "secret", with the label "spy", "saboteur", and "wrecker" (as well
as a 20 year stint in the Gulag) being assigned to anyone who let even the
smallest bit of information slip into the public. The security wing of the
Party fed on the paranoia of the USSR's bureaucratic leadership, and in
time became so contorted and bloated beyond its purpose that it devoured
it's citizens for no reason but to simply devour them.

Think about this -- there is nothing in any of the Temple's documents that
is so earth-shaking that it should warrant such extraordinary security
demands.  Of the Jeweled Tablets of Set, the Crystal Tablet is about the
best of them, and it is there for anyone who wants to chip in the $65.00
for a membership.  The rest of them are little more than a collection of
mumbo-jumbo, internal policies, and suggestions for how to behave, etc.  
The Scroll of Set is barely readable anymore, it's so chock-full of
meandering navel-gazing.  Really, there is nothing there that justifies
making them such a big secret.

In the past, the Temple's attitudes was appropriate to the contents.  
They didn't make any extraordinary effort to control the documents once
they were out of the organization's hands.  Oh sure, they didn't want
random people reproducing their intellectual property (and on this point,
who can blame them), but when it came to the original copies produced by
the ToS itself, if the owner left the Temple they just shrugged it off.  
In my opinion, this was even the best way to keep them from being sought
after by the public, as they were not considered forbidden fruit.

Now, of course, the Magistry and Priesthood is being stacked with their
own variety of sunken-chested, weak-chinned, bespeckled Heinrich
Himmleresque spymeister wannabees, who have nothing more productive to do
in life but try to seize whatever new opportunities they find to lord it
over their charges.  It doesn't matter that 90% of the Temple's material
would produce nothing more than stifled yawns from the most productive
Satanist or educated occultist, this stuff is SEEKRIT.  Now they'll have a
reason to go sniffing out "leaks" and "enemies" should this pointless
Mohave-dry blathering make it into the public domain.  Or, they'll go
blustering about, claiming property from ex-members that is not rightfully
theirs, and that they have no lawful or ethical power to retrieve.

Furthermore, it may be a foot in the door for more Scientology-style
tactics.  As you recall, the Church of Scientology launched a series of
it's famous lawsuit assaults when its own secret internal documents were
posted to the net.  Of course, the Co$ lost the suit when the courts found
that a copyright is intended to protect the commercial vaibility of
intellectual property, and not a document's secrecy, and thus the
non-profit publication of secret documents does not violate copyright law.  
However, as their doomed CDA efforts and suits against anon services have
demonstrated, the simple fact that certain legal strategies are futile
does not indicate the ToS won't try it anyway.

> Seeing as how several priests have departed of late, it would be
> difficult-to-impossible to ascertain exactly who had breached the
> copyright...  and trying to get the material pulled could quickly turn
> into an expensive PR disaster for the Setians.  (Do the words "OT
> Scriptures" mean anything to you, guys?)

(*shrug*)

It could happen.  Its a bit surprising it doesn't happen all the time, in
fact.

Note to ToS lawdogs; we of Radio Free Setian have already rejected the
idea of reproducing or redistributing Temple copyrighted material (without
commentary), even within our own private communication forums.  So, if
somebody you've screwed over comes out with here with an electronic
version of Pumice Tablet of Set, don't blame us.  And by all means,
don't blame yourselves -- I know you never would anyway!

> Peace
> Kevin Filan

Mr. Scratch
www.radio-free-setian.com